[SOLVED] Problems getting the IBM ServeRAID M1015 SAS/SATA Controller to work with a VM on ESXi 6.5

[dr_nuke]

I had the IBM ServeRAID M1015 running OK with ESXi 5.1 until an extended power failure that outlasted the UPS backup.  The ESXi 5.1 on a USB got corrupted so I decided to install fresh using ESXi 6.5.

THe install went OK and I was able to get my other VMs going but the one that used the IBM ServeRAID M1015 is having the following error and won't start:

The systemId does not match the current system or the deviceId, and the vendorId does not match the device currently at 2:0.0.

I've read many posts and used Google but I don't seem to be able to figure out what is wrong.  I think the deviceID and vendorID are OK.

From the VM settings:

I've clicked the "Reserve all memory" but that hasn't helped at all.

lspci -v gives:

0000:02:00.0 Serial Attached SCSI controller Mass storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic LSI2008 [vmhba1]

     Class 0107: 1000:0072

The esx.conf shows:

/device/00000:002:00.0/owner = "passthru"

/device/00000:002:00.0/device = "72"

/device/00000:002:00.0/vendor = "1000"

/device/00000:002:00.0/vmkname = "vmhba1"

The VM.vmx shows:

pciPassthru0.deviceId = "0072"

pciPassthru0.vendorId = "1000"

pciPassthru0.systemId = "508e907b-f95c-2f44-9df2-6470021053df"

pciPassthru0.id = "02:00.0"

pciPassthru0.pciSlotNumber = "160"

I think the system ID is from: /vmfs/volumes/50901e07-4bc606a0-29b7-6470021053df/

The esx.conf, VM.vmx now all show 0x72; 0x1000 but the VM won't start.

Yes, the IBM ServeRAID M1015 is certified to work on 6.5.

What have I missed?  What should I be doing next?

Thank you in advance.

[rcporto]

Did you tried remove that device from virtual machine, save the virtual machine settings, and then add the device again? See: The vCenter Server Event tab reports the error: The systemId does not match the current system or th...

[dr_nuke]

Thank you for your reply, Richardson.

I have removed and added back the device to the VM a number of times.  It hasn't worked.

[dr_nuke · Accepted solution]

Just in case someone else ends up with this problem and wonders how to fix it, here is the solution.

Believe it or not, the solution for me was to downgrade to ESXi v5.1.

I downloaded the v5.1U3 installer disk, created a new USB key, set the root password, and rebooted.

I set the network up properly.  Downloaded the v5.1 of vSphere since the new version doesn't work with ESXi 5.1.

Then I imported the VM into the inventory, Edited and deleted the PCI passthrough device.  Saved.  Then added the PCI ServeRAID device again and started the VM.

No problem.  Took me all of 1 hour including downloading the ISO of ESXi.

Conclusion?  ESXi v6.5 or the vSphere web client still doesn't play nice with PCI passthrough devices like the ServeRAID.  I wasted a good 8 hours futzing around with ESXi v6.5.  I think it will be easier to go into the cloud next time rather than screw around.

Thanks to everyone who read and helped.  This has been a very frustrating experience.

[SoftR]

Is there a solution for this in 6.5? I just upgraded and run into exact same trouble...

[liteswap]

The real solution is to create a new VM using the passthrough device. Then download the new vmx and the one that doesn't work to your local machine. Edit the non-working vmx file to replace all the passthru statements with the ones from the newly created vmx. Upload it to the datastore, and it will boot.